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chemoresistance in ovarian cancer epigenetics the answer

Epigenetics Holds the Answer to Chemoresistance in Ovarian Cancer Patients

May 14, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

A study conducted at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia gives us novel insight into the chemoresistance of ovarian cancer and offers a potential therapeutic approach to overcoming it. Inhibiting enzymes that lead to changes in gene expression could decrease chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients, researchers say. Dr. Susanna Greer and her colleagues have identified two enzymes that suppress proteins that regulate cell survival and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic [more…]

dna methylation babies epigenetics womb development

Genotype and Womb Environment Epigenetically Influence Babies’ Development

May 6, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

A multitude of studies support that the quality of a child’s environment in the womb significantly influences health and development over his or her lifetime. Scientists at the University of Southampton, UK and National University of Singapore have analyzed epigenetic marks on DNA in order to determine how much a baby’s development in the womb is dictated by his or her genotype compared to the mother’s mental and physical health. In the study published in Genome Research, scientists used samples [more…]

Bones of Ancient Relatives Give Us Epigenetic Clues About Ourselves

April 30, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

We already know a lot about early modern humans based on scientific evidence collected from our ancestors, gaining clues from migration patterns and remnants left abandoned for ages. However, very little is known about our prehistoric relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, who lived thousands of years before us. With little evidence on hand and even smaller fragments of their DNA to spare, researchers are using epigenetics to give clues about why our archaic cousins differ from us, despite our very [more…]

dna methylation microRNAs epigenetic inheritance transgenerational

A Father’s Stress Felt for Generations

April 23, 2014 Bailey Kirkpatrick

New scientific research suggests that the negative effects of trauma can be inherited. Fathers may actually transfer the consequences of their early experiences to their children via an epigenetic process. Researchers report that mice that experienced stress early on passed down the negative consequences – depression, underestimation of risk, and upset of metabolism – to their offspring, even if their offspring were not directly exposed to stress or trauma. In a recent study, Isabelle Mansuy and her colleagues at the [more…]

dna methylation rna methylation exercising epigenetics epigenome health

Eat Well, Exercise Regularly and Monitor Your Epigenome

April 11, 2014 Milka Rodriguez

Cardiometabolic disease (CMD) is a term used to define risk factors associated with the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. One major characteristic which contributes to these risk factors is obesity. Worldwide, obesity has nearly doubled since 1980 and in 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults 20 and older were overweight (1). Additionally more than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011 (1). Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of obesity, premature death [more…]

dna methylation affects baby weight outcomes epigenetically

DNA Methylation Patterns May Be Associated With Birth Weight Outcomes

March 21, 2014 Milka Rodriguez

We are well aware that environmental factors such as smoking, drinking and diet can affect fetal development; however, we do not have a clear understanding of the epigenetic factors that may be involved in this process. A new study now shows that epigenetics may also be involved in fetal growth – in particular birth weight. The scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a study which examined the relationship between CpG-specific cord blood DNA methylation and [more…]

kidney fibrosis epigenetics dna methylation disease

New Hope for People Suffering from Kidney Fibrosis

March 3, 2014 Milka Rodriguez

Injury to tissue in major organs such as the kidney causes inflammation which can lead to cell damage or cell death in the affected area. The human body is programmed with a normal physiological wound repair process for the damaged tissue – similar to the formation of a scar when we injure or damage our skin. Normally, once the injury has been contained, the wound repair process stops. Fibrosis is a pathological process similar to normal tissue wound repair; however, [more…]

“I Am No Longer Haunted By That Awful Memory” – New Epigenetic Drug Treatment May Erase Painful Memories

January 27, 2014 Milka Rodriguez

Is it possible for a drug to dampen a traumatic memory? It may be, as researchers are discovering that a fundamental epigenetic mechanism is responsible for long-term fear memory. Neuroplasticity, also called brain plasticity, refers to the changes in neural connections such as synapses and neural pathways as a result of changes in behavior, environmental exposure and neural processes (1,2). While it was once believed that the brain is a physiologically static organ and its networks were fixed, research over [more…]

Book Review: Epigenetics by Lyle Armstrong

January 13, 2014 Milka Rodriguez

The study of epigenetics has been around for some time, but to many it is still a relatively new field of research. Not that much is written about it or easy to reference on the web. That’s why we were thrilled when Garland Science announced its newest publication, Epigenetics by Lyle Armstrong, PhD, Newcastle University. This easy to follow and well-written scientific textbook brings together the structure and machinery of epigenetic modification, how epigenetic modification controls cellular functions, and the [more…]

Our Parents’ Lives Could Influence Memories Through Epigenetics

January 7, 2014 WhatIsEpigenetics

The scientists at Emory University School of Medicine showed new evidence that our parents’ behaviors before we are born may have a bigger influence on us than we previously imagined, although we know our parents have a big impact on our lives. The scientists used olfactory molecular specificity to examine the inheritance of parental traumatic exposure, a phenomenon that has been frequently observed, but not understood. They subjected F0 mice to odor fear conditioning before conception and found that subsequently [more…]

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